My Husband Is A Stranger

Chapter Fifteen - Board

Clara felt numerous gazes eyeing her as people were whispering to one another, she wanted to ignore it but the gazes seemed to be multiplying while they were entering the deepest part of the company.

She and Tristan exited the elevator and entered a quiet area, where they were greeted by a woman dressed in pristine formal attire with her hair tied up in a bun. Clara thought she’s probably the secretary of Tristan and was stunning, far more so than what she was wearing at the time.

“Mr. Zaveri, the board is already waiting for you at the conference room,” she formally informed him while handing the to-do list for today without shooting a glance at Clara.

“Thank you Zyrene, you may leave,” Tristan firmly said, so the secretary just bowed once more before she came back to her desk.

Clara nudged her husband's sides and said, “She's stunning,” Tristan then frowned his eyebrows at his wife.

“Stunning? Who?” Tristan curiously asked as he glanced around their surroundings, “Aside from you, wife, I don’t see anyone,” he remarked, making Clara blush.

“Y-Your secretary I mean!” Clara lightly hit his sides, so Tristan just chuckled before glancing at his secretary.

“I don’t know wife, but maybe to you she’s pretty,” Tristan said before grabbing her hands, “Let’s go, we don’t want them to keep on waiting,” he added.

Clara furrowed her brows at her husband, she's confused as to what his standards for attractive women were, and if she met those. Clara just shrugged and went along with Tristan despite her absurd thoughts.

Clara didn't miss a single interior design she couldn't admire as they walked down spacious corridors. She was ecstatic at what she was witnessing because everything was so perfectly built that it didn't look like it was manufactured by people.

Tristan then stopped on a corner and opened a glass two-way door, revealing a large table with many impatient-looking boards. They immediately stood up to acknowledge Tristan's presence and bowed.

“Good morning Mr. Zaveri,” they all greeted and astounded Clara, she had never witnessed such a setting so everything was bizarre to her.

“Sit down everyone,” Tristan changed the tone of his voice, so even Clara followed his order and sat on his side in the center.

No one seemed to notice her except the small employees from the outside looking at her like she had done something wrong.

“What is the problem that you had to call me this early?” he raised his tone before impatiently tapping his fingers in front.

One of them stood up and started distributing papers, it took that man a while before he started to pace in front while opening the projector to report on the front.

“As you can see everyone, according to my calculations, we had lost two hundred million dollars last week, it’s a huge loss for our company’s daily profit,” Clara stared at the CFO or the Chief Financial Officer of the company, a lot of boards became bothered because of what they’ve heard.

Clara cast a peek at Tristan, who was staring at his report, seemingly uninterested in what they were about to say.

Isn't he concerned about his company's state? Clara thought, so she poked her husband in the side, who gave her a quick glance.

“What are you going to do now that you've lost money?” Clara inquired, but Tristan only shrugged, which caught her off guard for a second.

“I don’t know wife, you handle it, I’m not in the mood for this,” Clara flinched because her husband’s acting weird.

“What do you mean not in the mood?! Didn’t you come here for this?” she quietly bugged him, but she came to a halt when she sensed some stares.

She slowly leaned in to whisper in his ear since everyone was looking at him, “I-I think they want you to say something,” Clara claimed, so Tristan just shrugged.

“You answer them, wife,” Tristan whispered back, so her eyes widened. What the hell is she supposed to say?! She thought.

Clara almost panicked when some of the board silently tapped their pen on the table, they’re just waiting for Tristan to respond.

“U-Um, it seems that Mr. Zaveri is not feeling well, may I ask what was the issue again?” Clara politely asked, so a lot of eyes finally gazed at her, wondering why she was there.

“Excuse me, Ms.,” said one of the board members, “May I ask who you are exactly?” She raised her eyebrows like she’s trying to intimidate Clara.

“Oh my apologies, I’m Clara Crest Zaveri, his wife,” Clara pointed at Tristan who was just secretly smirking at what his wife had stated.

He thought that her name sounded so beautiful with his surname in it, he just shrugged and waited on how his wife would be able to handle that situation.

The board looked surprised as they glanced at their boss who looked uninterested in what was going on, the only proof that they had was the expensive ring that Clara was wearing.

It looks like they wanted to talk about it but remained silent because there’s still an issue they had to solve.

“So may you repeat the current issue please?” Clara asked one more time, though she had already heard what the issue was, she just needed more time to think.

The Chief Financial Officer then resumed his discussion of the primary issue before casting a glance towards Clara, who was simply resting her fingers on her chin.

“If this has happened last week, why did you just call a board meeting just now?” Clara stated without looking at anyone.

“If there’s a problem, shouldn’t you all be reporting instantly to your CEO? You’re all responsible for this mess,” Clara sighed before caressing her forehead, it’s been a while since she read something about business, but she finished this course so she’s familiar with it.

She knew that this problem was handled poorly and she didn’t know why since knowing Tristan, he wouldn’t let this happen.

“And you,” Clara gazed at the CFO who immediately flinched at her sight, “Aren’t you and your CEO were the only ones who had access to all of the money that’s been flowing through the company? So why did this happen?”

“Also, it's your job as a CFO to manage all the money inside of the company, right?” Clara raised her tone, so all of the board were looking at the CFO.

Tristan wanted to chuckle, but he restrained himself because he’s truly amused at how his wife has handled it.

Clara opened the folder and checked what the CFO had placed over there, “How could you let money this big slip away from your hands, do you have any explanations for this?”

The CFO standing in the center, who was sweating excessively on his forehead, appeared extremely nervous. 

Clara noticed something weird in the papers, she also found out that this was not only the CFO’s fault but also her husband’s.

Tristan then stood up and surprised numerous people inside of the conference room, including his wife, “CFO, meet me in my office in 10 minutes, the board meeting has adjourned,”

After that, Tristan left the conference room while dragging his wife. Clara glared at him as she shoved away from his touch. Tristan pondered for a bit before shrugging when he observed his wife appeared to be deep in thought.

They’re now on the way towards Tristan's main office; after they arrived there, Clara immediately closed the door and confronted her husband.

“Aside from the CFO, there’s also a person that’s responsible for the loss of money,” Clara sighed while scratching the back of her head, “But it’s weird that you would steal to your own company, right?”

Clara c****d her head at her husband who just hugged his stomach before bursting into laughter, she glared at her husband who looked highly amused with what she stated.

Tristan couldn't stop laughing till he sat down in his recliner; he couldn't believe his wife would figure it out so soon, despite the fact that she hadn't even looked into how his company operated. He was blown away by his wife's brilliance.

“Sorry wife, I just--” Clara only shook her head at him as he burst out laughing again. She couldn't believe someone would do such a thing to their own company.

“But, yes, you're correct wife, I did steal $100 million, and I'm very confident you knew what happened to the other $100 million?” Tristan plastered a sly grin on his lips, which made Clara sigh.

“Why would you steal from your own company? Are you out of your mind?” she politely asked.

Tristan burst out laughing at what she said, his wife sounded upset but didn't want to say anything unpleasant.

“And yes, like I said, only you and the CFO had access to that, either something happened to it, or he stole it,” Clara sighed before sitting on the chair right in front of Tristan’s desk.

“Is this why you asked me to come here? To solve that obvious problem?” Clara curiously asked, so Tristan just shrugged at her.

“No, I just want to bring my wife to work and maybe let everyone know that I’m married,” Tristan honestly said, so Clara just slowly nodded at him.

“All right, should I leave now because you're meeting with the CFO?” Clara wanted to give him a much bigger space so that he could work peacefully, but Tristan shook his head.

“It’s better that you’re here with me, there’s a lot of people that are still looking for you, remember?” Tristan reminded his wife, so Clara wondered for a moment before looking at her stranger husband.

She assumed that her husband was worried about her, so he decided to take her here today. She secretly smiled before sitting comfortably on her chair.

Clara just watched Tristan flip and read some folders while signing some contracts. From afar, she thought that her husband looked attractive.

The door opened quietly from their back as Clara then glanced at the CFO that’s entering the room with his head lowered.

“Well, well, I'm delighted you still have the confidence to show up here after stealing from our company?”

Tristan spoke, but he wasn't looking at the CFO; instead, he was quietly reading the folders, and the only sound Clara could hear was him flipping over the pages.

“I-I truly apologize sir, there’s nothing I could do,” the CFO was just lowering his head while hiding his hands on the back, “I-I had to do it, or t-they’ll--”

“Wife,” Tristan interrupted the CFO’s statements as his tone changed while he stood up, Clara flinched before looking at him intently, “Get inside that room, now,”

She glanced to where Tristan was pointing and noticed a small door leading to another room, it’s probably one of Tristan’s relaxing rooms. Clara thought.

Clara scrunched up her face in confusion before standing up. Why does she suddenly need to go there? “W-Why? Is there something wrong?”

Tristan didn’t say anything as he decided to swiftly pace towards his wife’s side and dragged her away from there.

“W-Wait, s-sir, I-I still have something to say that your wife needs too--”

“Shut your mouth or I’ll blow--fire you,” Tristan fumed, so the CFO did pipe down, as Clara stared at her husband.

“You don’t have to be that rude to him, Tristan,” Clara politely told her husband, but Tristan just shrugged.

“Just stay here wife, so that I’ll be at ease,” Tristan then opened the door, and gently pushed her inside, and slammed the door.

She furrowed her eyebrows for a moment as she started focusing her eyes on where she is right now.

Clara nearly gasped when she realized it was a bedroom with freshly hung tuxedos and a woman's clothes and shoes?

“Was this his girlfriend’s place while he’s working here?” Clara talked to herself as she approached those high-end heels.

These were the same as her aunt wanted, his girlfriend probably must’ve loved expensive heels. She just shrugged and glanced at the door she went in when she heard a loud thud.

“Tristan? What’s going on over there?” Clara raised her voice when there was just silence from the outside.

She thought the CFO was acting a little weird a while ago, maybe that’s why Tristan told her to leave?

Clara just shrugged at her absurd thoughts, she’s getting a little paranoid because of what happened to her at her aunt’s manor.

Another thud was to be heard that bothered Clara’s well-being.

To be continued…